Quote:
Originally Posted by freebeard
"Move to where the food is" -- Sam Kinison
Else, high-rise urban farms with hydroponics and purple lights.
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I think that's a fairly probable future, perhaps minus the artificial lighting. Free energy is free energy. At the equator, vertical farming doesn't make much sense because the sun is directly above and already maximizing exposure to plants on a single plane. Move away from the equator, and sunlight approaches at an angle, lending opportunities for vertical farming. The structure would cast a shadow though, leaving darkness for anything behind it.
More immediately, I see autonomous farming machines, LASER (yes, it's a proper acronym) equipped pesticide machines that eliminate the need for chemical pesticides, and precise metering of soil amendments and fertilizers to the individual plant.
Harvesting will be continuous, selecting mature produce each day, eliminating waste caused by under ripe/over ripe harvesting.
Conservatively I see a 25% increase in yield.